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Catholics everywhere have been horrified and ashamed by the news
that some priests had sexually abused children, and some bishops
had allowed abusive priests to continue their work even after their
crimes were known. Although revelations of the sex-abuse crisis
began in the mid-1980s,
the year 2002 was a turning point. At that time it became clear
that at least some leaders had placed children in harm's way by
returning pedophiles to parish duty. The crisis was especially painful
in the Archdiocese of Boston, where Cardinal Bernard Law resigned
after several
high-profile cases of abusive priests emerged.

How can the Catholic Church begin to recover from the effects of
this crisis? A first step is understanding who has been affected
by clergy sexual abuse and who can help lead the Church on a path
toward healing.

People who have been sexually abused in childhood often suffer
from long-term, damaging effects. According to the Survivors
Healing Center, these effects include fear, depression, self-destructive
behaviors, low self esteem, feelings of confusion, sexual acting
out behaviors, nightmares, hostility, phobias, antisocial behavior,
and socialization problems. Abuse
at the hands of a priest can be even more difficult to overcome,
because the victims often view the priest as a representative of
God.

It is common for parents of sexual-abuse survivors to feel guilt,
confusion, shame and anger when they learn that their child
was abused. When the abuser is a priest, some parents feel even
more guilty or angry because they trusted the priest and considered
him a member of the family.

In
some instances, abusive priests targeted families in which the
father was absent or unavailable, and the mother looked to the priest
to be a role model for her children. In other cases, the parents
were happily married and very devoted Catholics, so devoted that
they would never question a priest's desire to spend time with their
children. "The parents were the victims, also," one mother
told the
Boston Globe. "It's never-ending pain, like a scab that
falls off and doesn't heal."

Research has provided us with clues that parents can use to look
for signs that their child might have been sexually abused. Clues
include depression, secretiveness, problems sleeping, nightmares,
refusal to go to school, aggressiveness and other severe behavioral
changes. To
prevent abuse, parents should tell children not to allow other
people to touch their bodies in a way that makes them uncomfortable;
teach children that respecting adults doesn't always mean doing
everything they say; and encourage schools to have professional
prevention programs.

Fewer than two percent of Catholic priests have ever been accused
of abusing children, but many felt they have been under a cloud
of suspicion since the clergy sex-abuse scandal emerged. As a result,
many felt demoralized and powerless, especially in dioceses such
as Boston,
where the scandal was the greatest. Many found themselves angry
at offending priests and at bishops who covered up crimes; others
had to reassure anxious parishioners and even reexamine their own
practices to remove any cause for doubt.

At the same time, some were concerned that the rights
of priests were being pushed aside in the rush to find and punish
abusive priests. In several cases, accusers withdrew their charges
after a priest's name had been made public, and others complained
that dioceses were too quick to suspend priests when an allegation
was made.

Priests in organizations such as the National Federation of Priests'
Councils (NFPC) and the Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM)
called for policies
that protect both children and innocent priests. They apologized
to survivors of clergy sexual abuse and backed punishment for abusive
priests. But in the case of CMSM, they opposed plans to kick abusers
out of the priesthood, saying they could better protect children
by keeping offenders in a closely supervised environment.

The sex-abuse crisis that unfolded in 2002 energized the Catholic
laity in ways that previous scandals in the mid-80s and early 90s
did not. As with so much else in the crisis, the epicenter was in
Boston, where anger led to the formation of Voice
of the Faithful, a lay-led group that advocated change in the
Church.

But Voice of the Faithful, which had 30,000 members by the end
of the year, was not the only way in which Catholics protested against
the crisis. Some formed local
advocacy groups, while many others withheld their donations
to the Church in an effort
to force reforms.